Vacancy: Post-Doctoral Position – Systems modeler

SLP/ILRI seeks to recruit a post-doctoral scientist to contribute to the SLP funded project ‘Optimizing livelihood and environmental benefits from crop residues in smallholder crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia”

The Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a consortium of 12 international agricultural research centres and the organisations that collaborate with them. The SLP contributes to the CGIAR goals of alleviating poverty in the developing world and protecting natural resources in order to achieve sustainable food security by building and strengthening links between diverse CGIAR centres and programmes, their partners and other stakeholders to develop integrated research on livestock related issues.

The position:

SLP/ILRI seeks to recruit a post-doctoral scientist to contribute to the SLP funded project ‘Optimizing livelihood and environmental benefits from crop residues in smallholder crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia” jointly conducted by CIMMYT, CIP, ICRISAT, IITA, ILRI/IWMI, and Wageningen University. He/she will play a leading role in implementing trade-off and sustainability models in coordination with all the partners. In addition he/she will collect and organized relevant secondary bio-physical information for the study sites and will build regional capacity for modeling approaches.

Location:

ILRI principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Preferred Skills:

The successful candidate will have:

• PhD in Agricultural or Environmental Sciences, Biology, Ecology, Geo-information Science and/or Mathematic, obtained within the last 5 years;
• Strong capabilities in quantitative analysis, with expertise in state-of-the-art systems modeling;
• Capability to quickly adapt and learn/adopt new methods/approaches and tools;
• Good understanding of and interest for agricultural challenges in the developing world;
• Experience in GIS/Remote Sensing and spatial analysis would be an advantage;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to perform in multidisciplinary and multicultural research environments;
• Be fluent in English with good writing skills;
• A willingness to travel frequently.

Terms of appointment:

The initial appointment will be for two years with the possibility of one renewal for one year, contingent upon individual performance and availability of funds. ILRI offers a competitive remuneration package paid in US dollars.

Applications:

Applicants should send a cover letter expressing their interest, detailed CV, names and contact details (Telephone, E-mail) of three professional referees to the Human Resources Office, ILRI, P.O. Box 30709-00100, Nairobi Kenya; e-mail: recruit-ilri@cgiar.org by 31st January 2010 or until the position is filled. The title and reference number of the position for which the application is made should be clearly marked on the application. For more information on the position, contact b.gerard@cgiar.org